BOEING CUTS ITS 4Q LOSS TO $30 MILLION, BUT THAT WAS BEFORE ONE OF ITS JETS LOST A PANEL IN FLIGHT

Boeing narrowed its fourth-quarter loss to $30 million and increased production of its bestselling plane just before one of them suffered a blowout of a side panel during a flight, an accident that has raised new safety concerns about the aircraft manufacturer.

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The loss reported this week was smaller than Wall Street expected, and revenue beat forecasts.

However, the company declined to offer its own forecast of 2024 results an indication of the uncertainty swirling around Boeing since a 737 Max 9 operated by Alaska Airlines suffered a midflight blowout of a panel called a door plug on Jan. 5.

"While we often use this time of year to share or update our financial and operational objectives, now is not the time for that," CEO David Calhoun said, while promising that his focus is on improving quality after the Alaska Airlines accident.

Calhoun repeated a vow to help airline customers and "work transparently" with the Federal Aviation Administration, which is investigating quality-control issues at Boeing and its suppliers.

Over many years, Boeing sought to save money by shifting from manufacturing planes to assembling them largely from parts made by suppliers. On the 737, the most important supplier is Spirit AeroSystems, which makes fuselages and installs door plugs - although it is not clear whether Spirit or Boeing last worked on the doomed plug.